Friday, January 16, 2004

 

Around Pennsylvania ...

Indian tribe files suit for Forks land

An American Indian tribe filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday seeking to reclaim ancestral lands in the Lehigh Valley so it can open a casino elsewhere in the state.

The Delaware Nation of Anadarko, Okla., claims a 315-acre parcel in Forks Township that is now home to 25 private residences and the maker of Crayola crayons.

Police: Berwick bar operator hit judge's cars

BERWICK — The operator of a popular bar here was allegedly drunk early New Year's Day when he crashed his truck into two cars at a judge's home.

Rick Larue Harmon, 40, who runs Pepper's Bar on Sixth Avenue, told police he failed to negotiate a curve in a South Centre Township development around 2:43 a.m. Jan. 1, the criminal complaint says.

His black Ford truck went through the yard of Columbia County President Judge Scott Naus. The pickup struck two parked vehicles, a 2000 Saturn and a 1991 Volvo owned by Naus and his wife, causing light damage to both, according to police.

State trout fed feed with toxins

Farm-raised salmon on the West Coast aren't the only ones that have received feed with high concentrations of toxic chemicals. Hatchery-raised trout in Pennsylvania have received it, too.

"What they are seeing in (farm-raised salmon) is ... consistent with what we've seen with hatchery-raised trout," said Dan Tredinnick, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

And in breaking news ...

Man sought in family slayings dies in explosion

A man accused of killing a mother, father, and 19-month-old baby died this morning in an explosion following a police chase, officials said.

Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi said Donald Robinson Barnhart, 31, of Hyde Park, likely set off an "incendiary device" and blew up the car in which he was traveling after he noticed he was being followed by state police.

Barnhart, who had been wanted on three counts of criminal homicide, died at the scene of the 3 a.m. explosion on Route 819 near Route 66 in Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Andreassi said.

posted by Anne 1/16/2004 06:17:00 AM